For developing a Snapchat Clone you will need to have a proper idea about its workflow, features, and monetization process. All of this cumulated into the entire development process, leading up to the launch of the application.
To tell you a little bit about Snapchat, it is a social media platform, that allows people to communicate with one another through a digital space. It has also provided public spaces for users to indulge in self-expression and also collaborate in other cases to create content. Other users can also engage in conversation about the content and express their opinion in a positive manner.
So, now that we know a little bit about Snapchat, let us first start with the development process of a Snapchat Clone and then go deeper.
Researching
When you are developing an application or a web platform, the initial thing, to begin with, is researching. Researching the market, target audience, competition, and other analogies will be important for the app, in terms of business.
Documentation
Now comes the strenuous paperwork of preparing drafts, signing contracts which will be important in the later stages of the business with other parties.
Creating Prototype
You will need to create a proper wireframe of the app interfaces, user flow in detail, and other things.
UI/UX Design
The UI/UX design decides how the user interface will appear to the user. So, there should be no question upon the careful designing of the interface and making it interactive and user-friendly to the highest extent possible.
Coding
The coding of your Snapchat Clone is the final nail in the coffin, that requires the most technical involvement. Once the code for your app gets ready it will be ready for the operation that it was initially designed to do.
Quality Assurance
Even if the coding is complete, you still need to go through a quality assurance process. This is to make sure that the app is a technologically superior and error-free product for usage.
Release Or Launch
If the entire development process seems satisfactory enough for the company and the developer, and the end result seems to be worthy enough, they can release the product right away. As a messaging app, ideas are constantly evolving, hence, releasing an app early may prevent anybody else from arriving at the scene with the very same idea.
Workflow Of A Snapchat Clone
However, you can only start working on the development process and the technical aspects after you have mapped out the workflow. The workflow denotes how the Snapchat Clone is supposed to function, so, users can obtain a certain purpose that the app was initially designed to do.
- Firstly, the user has to search for the app on the app store of their device and download it accordingly.
- Once the app gets downloaded the user will need to register to dig further into the rabbit hole of a messaging app.
- The user signs up and creates a profile with certain personal info and a nickname to top it all off.
- The app synchronizes with the contact list of the device the user is using. Users can add friends from their contact list who are on the app platform.
- The user creates a snap, which can be a photo or video to upload on their profile page. This content can be edited by the user if required at any time.
- Not just adding a snap, but a Snapchat Clone also allows the user to set a timestamp for the content, which will denote how long it will visible for viewing.
- Users can add a caption to content if they feel like it.
- A snap can also be personally sent to friends or set up as a story over the user profile.
Snapchat Clone Features To Consider
The above-mentioned workflow of a messaging app like Snapchat Clone is made into a reality with a combination of different features. These features are accessible to all users of the platform and keep the interaction moving forward.
Taking Snaps
The ultimate purpose of a messaging application is to send out digital media content to other people. For Snapchat, snaps are pictures, small videos content that can be sent out to their friends. The most unique thing about Snapchat is that, its ability to send out self-destructive snaps. They can use filters and other editing effects to make the snap more interesting.
Texting Or Messaging
As mentioned before, these snaps are sent out to the friends of the user. These friends are people that the user’s contact list already contained. Hence, there is a sense of authenticity. Though such a platform puts severe importance on the visual content, but still allows texting or chatting ability between its users.
Adding Stickers
A Snapchat Clone may not put much emphasis on their textual communication, however, it still makes the texting process interesting enough with numerous stickers. Today stickers are made quite quirky and expressive allowing users to easily communicate in a conversation over texting.
Using Lenses
Lenses are animations, that users can apply to their snaps. These are usually made funny, adding different effects and filters to snaps before sending it out to friends or posting it out as a story.
Implementing Geofilters
Geofilter is a good monetization model-cum-feature, that allows a Snapchat Clone to earn some definite profit. Geofilters are a set of filter options that users can only have access to within certain geolocation.
Friend’s Search
A messaging application allows its users to search for friends over the platform. They can typically do so by typing the friend’s i.d or name. Otherwise, the Geofilters feature adds a few more things to the equation. It may allow the user to find friends that are nearby within a certain range or through a unique code provided with each profile.
Audio & Video Calling
While a Snapchat Clone clone is primarily for taking a snap and sharing it with others. You can still choose to include audio and video calling facilities for users. As a messaging app that aims at becoming the best digital communicating option, audio and video calling is a commendable inclusion.
Posting Stories
Users can also post stories on their profiles. These are similar to snaps, however, it has a specific 24hours timestamp. These stories are made visible to anybody on the user’s friend list, without having for the user to send it out to their friends individually.
Discover Or Explore
This section is created as a media catalogue. Here, users can look at different new, interesting content and explore new things.
Snapcash Transactions
This is fairly a new inclusion to the messaging application universe. By using the Snapcash feature users can make financial transactions with other users. Users can both send out digital money or receive it using the application.
Options for Monetization Of The Snapchat Clone.
If you successfully popularize your photo-sharing application such as SnapChat in the future, the problem of profit will be solved automatically. Large corporations would compete for the opportunity to promote themselves with your assistance. You’ll still have to rely on more traditional methods of earning money till then, such as:
A freemium model is a well-known method of monetizing software applications. Furthermore, the widespread use of such a method provides the foundation for confidence in its efficacy. As a result, while developing a Snapchat clone, consider providing free basic features while also offering an improved paid version (a kind of monthly subscription).
Pay-per-use features, which are a variation on the last option. However, rather than charging a monthly membership, we present customers with the option of purchasing the feature that they found particularly useful from the “luxury” list.
Built-in purchases. These purchases may include stickers or other unique possibilities; attempt to develop a creative and even daring idea for these purchases before you make them. If you are successful as a Snapchat clone app owner over time (for example, if you manage to establish a face-filter app like SnapChat), prestigious firms will pay you to manufacture branded packages of stickers for their products (with advertising purposes in mind). However, it is in the future realm; it is not, in fact, a concern of today. So, for the time being, your target audience consists of regular users who would welcome the opportunity to spice up their communication process with gorgeous, paid “smiley faces.”
Advertisements within the app. You cannot survive without a promotion, especially in the beginning. Don’t rely on this kind of monetization as your sole source of income; instead, combine it with a freemium model for the best results. And keep in mind that paying Snapchat customers should be able to take advantage of customized features without being bothered by unwanted adverts.
So you have a choice: monetize your Snapchat Clone app in the same way that SnapChat does, or come up with your method of earning money (by selecting one of the options listed above) do whatever you want, but keep in mind that you must not only cover your messenger app development costs but also make a profit.
Conclusion
There is still one instance to consider for developing a Snapchat Clone, which is the monetization model. Geofilters are surely one way to do so, but there are other ways that need to be integrated in order to maintain a certain profit ratio. Once you have chalked out all of this, your app will be ready for launch.